Exmouth Town Report (as promised)

From The Exmouth Journal:

Such was the drama at Street that, in the aftermath of 'the magic moment' it had been thought - indeed reported - that skipper Jamie Dirrane scored what was certainly the 'most dramatic' Town goal, of 2019.

However, once the dust had settled on a memorable 4-3 win at Street it was decided that the winning goal was in fact scored by Jordan Harris.

That means that the Town leading scorer - both in this current season to date and the year of 2019, ended the year scoring twice in each of the final three Town games of the year!

It also means that the Town hit-man has now netted 12 goals in his last eight game s scoring in each of them with the exception of the December 7, 0-0 draw at Southern Road against Hallen.

What's more, it also means that Harris now has 38 goals to his name in 2019!

Town president John Dibsdall, who has seen so many Town games over the years, said post match at Street: "There are usually four of us who travel together to Town away games and, after the match, I said to 'Hilly' (Town manager Kevin Hill) that we have a combined age approaching 300 and moments like the last two minutes at Street are not good for our health!"

He continued: "That said, perhaps those final moments at Street were a fitting end to a year that has seen us fight to the very end in every game and, even in the two league games that we have lost since this season started, we have been the better side from first kick to last in each of the second halves of those games at Parkway and Keynsham."

Results PM Saturday 28th December

I have to be happy today.

I just put all the results in my spreadsheet and there is nothing but GREEN to show.

There was a postponed match at the bottom of the list but the other results were all good.

Broadclyst beat Witheridge 2nds 4-2.

Elmore 2nds beat Beer Albion 2nds 6-2.

And now the results that interest those of you that follow the pyramid:

Exmouth Town travelled to Street and came away with a 4-3 win.
It sounds like a good match and if I find a match report I will let you know.

Weymouth were at home to Oxford City and emerged from the match with a 2-1 victory.

Torquay were drawing 1-1 with Woking at half time but wound up 4-1 winners.

All in all a good day with more to come tomorrow.

Results PM Thursday 26th December

Arsenal travelled to Bournemouth and went a goal behind. This is not unusual nor is the fact that it was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who equalised in the second half. The match finished 1-1.

Brentford welcomed Swansea City. Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring and this was followed by two goals from Ollie Watkins. Swansea got a goal back in return and the match finished 3-1.

Southend United entertained Milton Keynes Dons. The Dons took the lead twice but two equalisers from Jason Demetriou and Rob Kiernan proved that defenders can score to keep a team in contention which they did as the match ended 2-2.

Lee Martin's 14th-minute goal was enough for Exeter City to bring victory at home to Newport County.

Courtney Duffus scored a hat-trick as Yeovil beat Torquay 6-2 to move level on points with National League leaders Barrow. Asa Hall and Ben Whitfield scored for Torquay.

Weymouth were due to take on Havant & Waterlooville but the waterlogged pitch prevented the match from going ahead.

Tiverton Town travelled to Truro City and came away with a 3-3 draw.

Barnstaple travelled to Bideford and twice went ahead before succumbing to a 3-2 defeat.

My current Western League pick Exmouth Town beat my old Western League pick Buckland Athletic 4-2. That sounds like it might have been a good match to watch.

Elmore and Liverton results have not appeared so I assume that they were postponed due to the rain which continues to pour day after day after day. This is more than forty days and forty nights so what does that mean?

Amazon Prime was the service provided today.

Results PM Saturday 21st December = A long day continues

I have the Liverpool v. Flamengo match on in the window beside this one. It is still Nil Nil as I write but Liverpool are peppering the Flamengo goal. Barbosa hits the ball over the bar for Flamengo.

I watched Everton play Arsenal in the match where both defences are considered so bad that we were guaranteed a goal fest. Naturally the match finished Nil Nil. Maybe the threat of the two new managers woke both defences up a bit.

Brentford travelled to West Bromwich Albion and earned a 1-1 draw.

Southend travelled to Bolton Wanderers and went down 3-2.

Exeter were 3-2 down to Walsall at half time but equalised in the second half for a 3-3 draw.

Both National League sides lost:

Chesterfield turned up at Torquay and won the match 3-0.

St Albans City travelled to Weymouth and won their match 1-0.

The Southern League gave me one win and one defeat. You can already guess.

Tiverton Town travelled to Dorchester Town and trounced them 5-1.

Barnstaple returned to form with a 2-0 defeat at home to Evesham Town.

From Exmouth in the Western League down all matches were postponed due to torrential rain.

Rain, Rain, Go Away. Do not return until the end of May.

Reporting AM Saturday 21st December = The shortest day

SO! What happened this week?

Arsenal lost 3-0 to Manchester City on Monday, a match which saw the end of the Freddie Ljungberg reign. Mickel Arteta has now been appointed manager of Arsenal. He has good strong ideas but will they translate to performances on the field. His management of Mesut Ozil will be a key factor.

Tiverton Town travelled to Blackfield & Langley on Tuesday managing a 1-0 win so the Tiverton story continues to be a good one.

Barnstaple took on Larkhall Athletic at home and managed a rare win 3-1. Any more scores like that and I will have to visit the ground and watch them live.

Today we can expect results from:

1) Everton v. Arsenal
2) West Bromwich Albion v. Brentford
3) Bolton Wanderers v. Southend United
4) Exeter v. Walsall
5) Torquay United v. Chesterfield
6) Weymouth v. St Albans City
7) Dorchester Town v. Tiverton Town
8) Barnstaple Town v. Evesham United
9) Exmouth Town v. Plymouth Parkway
10) Elmore Eagles v. Sidmouth Town
11) Liverton United v. Exmouth Town Reserves

The local league matches are mine to follow and nothing to do with you.

Results PM Saturday 14th December

From the lower levels up:

Most of the local league matches were postponed due to this incessant weather. I have checked the wood outside every day for the last two months and although it has partially dried it has not been fully dry since October. The backlog must be huge by now so special measures will be needed and I am expecting to see incomplete tables at the end of the season.

Now;

11) Shock of shocks. They play much better when I am not watching. Liverton beat Topsham 4-1.

10) Elmore travelled to Newton Abbot Spurs and came away 4-2 winners.

9) Exmouth Town took on Bridport away and beat them 3-1. Three wins from three at this point.

8) Barnstaple Town, my weakest club, surrendered to Cirencester Town 2-1 away.

7) Tiverton Town were due to play Farnborough at home but this weather saw the match postponed.

6) Weymouth went to Barnet for their F.A.Trophy matched and lost 2-1 to the team one level above.

5) Torquay were at home to Aldershot Town and won convincingly by 5 goals to 1.

4) Exeter had a good result after losing to Hartlepool in the cup, the beat Salford 1-0 away.

3) Southend welcomed Rotherham United to Roots Hall and gave them a chance to draw 2-2.

2) Brentford took on local rivals Fulham at home and bragging rights go to Brentford 1-0.

1) Arsenal play tomorrow.

Reporting AM Saturday December 14th

Arsenal won at last on Monday night, beating West Ham 3-1 although not before going a goal behind. Fortunately I know that whenever West Ham score they sit back and let teams come at them which is what we did and they paid for it.

On Wednesday evening Brentford continued the current good run by beating Cardiff City 2-1. Goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Ollie Watkins sealed the win in the first half.

Thursday evening saw Arsenal qualify in the Europa League but not without the usual worries on the way. Standard Liege went 2-0 up in the 69th minute and Eintracht Frankfurt were beating Vitoria at the time. We were out. Goals from Alexander Lacazette in the 78th minute and from Bukayo Saka in the 81st minute saw us see off the threat from Liege but as the night wore on Vitoria went and stayed ahead against Eintracht Frankfurt meaning that we were safely through whatever happened. Liege could have gone through with us given one more goal. It did not happen. The match ended 2-2.

The matches this weekend are :-

Arsenal are at home to Manchester City on Sunday.

The other matches take place today:

Brentford at home to Fulham.
Southend at home to Rotherham United.
Exeter away to the new Manchester United, Salford City.

It must be F.A.Trophy Day with no National League matches for my picks.

Torquay United are at home to Aldershot Town in the First Round of the F.A.Trophy.
Weymouth are away to Barnet having beaten Hastings United in the previous round.

Tiverton Town are at home to Farnborough in the Southern League.
Barnstaple Town are away to Cirencester Town in the Southern League Division One South.

Exmouth Town are away to Bridport in the Western League Premier Division.

Elmore Eagles are away to Newton Abbot Spurs in the South West Peninsula League Premier East.

Liverton are at home to Topsham Town in the Devon League North & East Division.

My local league opponents are Colyton, Newtown, Tedburn St Mary, Winkleigh, Sidmouth Town, Witheridge, Chagford, Priory and HT Dons. You need not worry about those. They are for me.

Good luck to whoever you are supporting today.

Mostly defeats for my lot : 7th December

Brentford travelled to Sheffield Wednesday and went down 2-1.

Southend travelled to Bristol Rovers and went down 2-4.

Exeter took on Northampton Town at home and won 3-2.

Torquay travelled to Harrogate Town and lost the match 2-1.

Weymouth travelled to Dorking Wanderers and lost 1-0.

Tiverton had a successful trip to Harrow Borough winning the match 6-1.

Barnstaple welcomed Melksham Town to their own patch and lost the game 3-1.

Exmouth Town had a home fixture against Hallen but there were no goals in the 0-0 draw.

Elmore travelled to Cullompton Rangers and came away having been defeated 2-1.

Liverton (near the bottom) travelled to Exwick Villa (2nd place) and lost the match 10-2.

It does seem that the Liverton 1-0 win last week was a bit of an anomaly.

Last Week and This Week : 1st - 7th December

Arsenal continued the poor run of form with an away draw at Norwich. I realise how lucky I am to support a team where an away draw is a bad result. Pukki gave Norwich the lead before Aubameyang equalised with a retaken penalty. Cantwell then gave Norwich the lead for the second time and we relied once again on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to earn us a point. "Something better change."

In the Championship Brentford took on Luton and ran out 7-0 winners. Something is very right at my Championship club. The goals came from Mbeumo, Watkins, Jensen, Dasilva (3) and Benrahma. Two late penalties indicate how Luton were feeling by the end of the match.

 Exeter drew 2-2 at home to Hartlepool United in the second round of the F.A.Cup. The Exeter goals came from Ryan Bowman and Nigel Atangana.

Torquay United took on Stockport  County at home but capitulated to their visitors and went down 5-1 which is a terrible result for a home team. Something is wrong at Plainmoor.

Weymouth had to challenge Hungerford Town at the Bob Lucas Stadium (formerly Wessex Stadium). The team achieved the same result as their last home game running out 2-1 winners.

There were two defeats for my teams in the Southern League. Tiverton Town went down 3-2 at home to Gosport Borough and Barnstaple travelled to Highworth Town where they lost 2-1.

My favourite team this season who are doing very well even though they were promoted at the end of last season are Exmouth Town who were at home to Shepton Mallet and ran out 2-1 winners.

Elmore took on Millbrook in the South West Peninsula League with the match ending 2-2. This suggests that the match was an open one allowing both sides to mount attacks on the opposing goal.

My home village were due to take on Exmouth Town Reserves but that match was postponed which is probably a good thing as the match that actually took place saw Liverton beat Budleigh Salterton 1-0 for only their second win of the season. That is enough to keep them just above the two relegation places.

As you now know all my other teams play in the local league, outside of the pyramid, so you are not entitled to know what happened to them. Cronies beat Buckland Reserves in the Devon Premier Cup.
Elmore 3rds beat Bradninch 4-2 in Division Six. All the other results were worse and there were many postponements.

On Tuesday 3rd Southend travelled to Burton Albion in a rearranged fixture and the match ended 1-1.

On Wednesday 4th Exeter fought out a 0-0 draw with Oxford United in the Second Round of the EFL Trophy. Exeter won through 3-0 on penalties.

On Thursday Arsenal produced the worst result in their result bout of bad form. Brighton came to the Emirates Stadium and served up a deserved 2-1 win. Unai Emery is gone but Freddie Ljungberg is continuing the lack of improvement match by match. Defensive coach Steve Bould has to go.

This weekend:
1) Arsenal are away to West Ham on Monday.
2) Brentford travel to Sheffield Wednesday.
3) Southend have gone across the country to Bristol Rovers.
4) Exeter are at home to Northampton Town
5) Torquay are visiting Harrogate Town on the way to mother Shipton's cave at Knaresborough.
6) Weymouth have a trip to Dorking Wanderers before they walk beside the river Thames.
7) Tiverton Town are away at Harrow Borough.
8) Barnstaple are at home to Melksham Town.
9) Exmouth Town are at home to Hallen.
10) Elmore travel to Cullompton Rangers.
11) Liverton United are away to Exwick Villa.
The other nine fixtures are mine to know.

Have a good match viewer.

A Bad Week

Three days and three defeats for my teams this week.

On Tuesday night in the National League Torquay travelled to Eastleigh. Eastleigh secured the game going into a 3-0 lead but Torquay fought back to 3-2 with goals from Ruairi Keating and Jake Andrews.

On Wednesday night Brentford travelled to Blackburn Rovers in the Football League Championship and went behind in the 11th minute. That opening goal was the only goal of the game so Brentford lost 1-0.

Last night (Thursday) Arsenal took on Eintracht Frankfurt, a team that they had beaten 3-0 on their own ground. Arsenal did seem to take them lightly and despite going 1-0 up through Aubameyang then conceded two goals to lose the match 2-1.

Three days and three defeats. I hope this weekend proves more fruitful for my selections.

Arsenal travel to Norwich in the Premier League on Sunday.

The other matches all take place on Saturday.

Brentford are at home to Luton Town in the Championship.

Southend are not playing as they were supposed to win their F.A.Cup match but did not.

Exeter take on Hartlepool United in the F.A.Cup on Sunday.

Torquay are at home to Stockport County in the National League.

Weymouth are at home to Hungerford Town in the Vanarama South (National League South).

Tiverton are at home to Gosport Borough in the Southern League Premier Division South.

Barnstaple are away to Highworth Town in the Southern League Division One South.

Exmouth are at home to Shepton Mallet in the Western League Premier Division.

Elmore are at home to league leaders Millbrook in the South West Peninsula League Premier East.

Liverton are at home to Exmouth Town Reserves in the Devon League North & East Division.

That last match and the local league matches are at the mercy of the weather which has not been kind for the last few weeks. 

Saturday 23rd November

I like rain.

It is good for the garden.

I do not like rain that goes on and on for days and days.

There has been no sunshine and my wife suffers from SAD syndrome. This is not a good thing.

Local league football = Postponed.

Even the matches that were being replayed after being postponed have been postponed.

The F.A. should start allowing more 3G pitches. The F.A. like grass. They are relegating forward thinking teams that have invested in a 3G pitch.

The F.A. also advised teams to take out minimal insurance and that has left Ossett United with a huge bill that means they may have to sell their ground to survive. The F.A. live in the 18th Century along with the fossils that run the F.A.

So, with no football for several weeks at local league level there will be a fixture pile up after christmas assuming that the rain actually stops.

In the Premier Division of the Devon & Exeter League Cronies beat Hatherleigh Town 3-0.

Carrying on up through levels 11, 10, 9 & 8 there were four more postponements.

Tiverton Town travelled to Hendon and came away with a 2-1 win. Winning ways have returned.

Torquay seem to have developed losing ways. They managed a 1-0 defeat away to Chorley.

Exeter City also travelled away but at Crawley Town they earned a 1-0 win.

Southend United have not responded to Sol Campbell who may not last too long. At have to Oxford United Southend managed to concede four goals while scoring none. A 4-0 home defeat.

Brentford beat Reading 1-0 in the Championship.

Arsenal took on Southampton at home and went 1-0 down. Alexander Lacazette equalised. Southampton then scored a second and held on until the 96th minute when Alexander Lacazette equalised. We will have to call him the equaliser.

Saturday 16th November 2019

So, with it being international week the Premier League and Championship have no fixtures taking place. Looking at my list of results many other planned matches did not take place either.

Burton Albion v. Southend United in League One was postponed due to international call-ups. I tried to find out who was called up, although not hard enough as I could find no information online.

In League Two Exeter City fought out a goalless draw with Cheltenham Town. The goalscorers were ....

Torquay United took on Sutton United at home in the National League. Sutton ran out 2-1 winners.

In the National League South the match between Hemel Hempstead Town and Weymouth was called off due to International Call-ups. This definitely needs more investigation. Are England C in action?

In the Southern League Tiverton took on the Metropolitan Police and won the match 2-1.

In the Southern League One South Barnstaple lost again, this time 3-1 away to Sholing. Barnstaple are now bottom of the league and are well worth their place as the strongest team (holding all the others up).

Exmouth travelled to Cadbury Heath in the Western League and won 5-1. This puts Exmouth on 24 points which is ten points behind Bradford Town at the top. Bradford have played 13 matches though and Exmouth have only played 10. If Exmouth win the three games in hand that will put them one point behind the leaders. There is plenty of time once the distractions of the F.A.Cup and F.A.Vase and the Les Phillips Cup have been played out.

In the Walter C Parson Cup Elmore took on Camelford and beat them 4-1 so march on to the next round of that particular cup.

In the Devon League North & East there was a change of fixture as Liverton travelled to Budleigh Salterton and lost by 5 goals to 1. Liverton are now clearly heading for a lower level of football next season.

From Level 12 onwards there were many fixture switches as postponements in the last few weeks have meant that cup matches need to be rearranged. Cronies postponed an East Devon Senior Cup match to play a Devon Premier Cup match. The result was a 2-0 win over Beer Albion.

The best win on the spreadsheet was an 8-2 victory by Broadclyst over Starcross Generals.

Too many matches are being postponed because of the rain. We need more 3G pitches but the F.A. are still governed by sad old men living in the past.

Leasing Dot Com Trophy

There were two matches last week for my teams in the Leasing.com Trophy.

Southend United took on AFC Wimbledon at home.

Exeter City took on West Ham United U21s at home.

Both of the home teams took the lead.

Both of the oppositions then equalised.

Both of the home teams then ran out 3-1 winners.

This was not enough for Southend to progress.

Exeter City have been drawn against Oxford United.

That concludes the Leasing Dot Com report.

Saturday Results

Well, starting with Sunday ... Southend United managed to lose 1-0 to Dover Athletic. An upset. The sad thing is that Sol Campbell did not appear to be that upset on the touchline. I wonder if he has given up on the squad already.

On Saturday Arsenal lost 2-0 away at Leicester. I will not be too critical as Leicester are above us in the table so it was expected. Mind you, Arsenal fans are beginning to expect defeat as a matter of course these days. The defence do not seem to care whether they concede or not. It has to be down to the coaching that the defence looks more like a sieve than a brick wall.

Good news for my Championship side as Brentford travelled to Wigan and ran out 3-0 winners. Maybe the team are starting to perform as it has been a slow start to the season.

Exeter travelled to Cambridge United and drew 1-1 in the F.A.Cup. I might go to the replay here in Exeter but it will largely depend on the weather and it is starting to get very cold these days.

Torquay travelled to Maidstone United and lost 1-0 in the F.A.Cup so that is the cup run over for this year.

In the Vanarama South Weymouth took on Hampton & Richmond Borough and ran out 2-1 winners.

Tiverton were due to play Blackfield & Langley but the match was postponed due to the weather.

Barnstaple actually played their match against Frome Town but that may not be a good thing as they lost 2-0.

All the other matches and many of the local league matches were postponed as the pitches were not fit for football.

The next couple of matches are in the Leasing Dot Com Trophy. I shall report shortly.

Super Sunday

So I wake up and it feels like the flu is waning at long long last.

I go shopping and get everything that I went for including that bulb the shape of which I have never seen before. Things are looking up.

My sporting Sunday is planned with Southend United on BT Sport at 12:00 noon playing Dover Athletic. Sol Campbell v. Andy Hessenthaler has my tastebuds tingling. Sol was a hero when he joined Arsenal from Spurs and took the stick that was necessary back then. He has chosen to manage Southend United, a club formerly managed by Gary Wassock. I shall watch with interest.

At 3:00pm I have to admit to one of my vices. I shall be watching Exeter Chiefs against Bristol in the Gallagher Premiership. Rugby Union was a sport I used to have the soccer AM attitude towards. Why do those egg chasers do it? Then I watched Exeter and they had an inspirational Irishmen by the name of Gareth Steenson who could kick the ball over the posts from all angles but also I watched him pick up men bigger than himself and put them on their behinds. I became hooked (a rugby term).

Tonight our village hall is holding their monthly film club and I want to support the initiative so I shall be out for entertainment with the wife. These things tend to be "use them or lose them" so to keep future options open I need to join in about 50% of the time.

Tomorrow I hope the flu will be gone (I feel a little groggy today) and I will then get my spreadsheets out and check all the F.A.Cup results along with the results of my teams at all levels.

Back to the second half of Dover v. Southend.

Vitoria 1 Arsenal 1

This was an infinitely forgettable match so I will not bore you with any details.

Mustafi scored with a header in the 80th minute, then after the 90 minutes were up Arsenal conceded a goal from a corner, something we do regularly these days. There is no pride in our defence. Individuals just look at each other and shrug their shoulders. We will not win the Europa League unless there is a massive improvement in attitude.

It was very different watching the match at 4pm on a Wednesday but it meant I could head to bed and try to recover from this flu around 6pm. I woke at 7am and things are starting to clear now although it is never pleasant expunging gunge from the body.

Flu Jab

I had my flu jab two weeks ago and guess what ... I got flu. This particular variety is not your three day flu and if my wife is anything to go by (she had the jab at the same time and succumbed quicker) then it is not even two week flu. This one has a constant sore throat, headaches on and off and the most annoying part is a whooping cough that just will not clear. I cannot recommend the flu jab this year, but if the real flu is worse than what I have got now then thousands are going to die this winter.

I have just prepared my spreadsheets again but as I am between sheets let me just tidy up last weekend. Many of the local league matches were postponed because of waterlogged pitches and this persistent rain shows no sign of going away. I remember looking at a weather map a week ago showing a band of rain stretching from South America to Britain and heading in our direction. We may have much more rain to come.

At the weekend Arsenal continued their poor run of results. A 1-1 draw at home to Wolves is not what we should be getting from this squad but we know there are internal problems that still need resolution. Goals from Aubameyang and Jimenez plus an outstanding save from Bernd Leno kept this game tight and we will have to hope that Arsenal pick up in the second half of the season.

So when my leading team underperform I always look to my other teams to raise the mood a bit. What with flu and the following results I have little reason to be cheerful.

Brentford 0 Huddersfield 1

Sunderland 1 Southend 0

Bradford 2 Exeter 0

The one team that did not let me down was Torquay. It sounds like a great game.

Halifax 2 Torquay 4

The next few matches were postponed until we get down to Barnstaple.

They did not make me feel any better.

Thatcham Town 5 Barnstaple Town 1

Would I find any favourable results in the amateur matches?

Nope ... Complete washout!


A bonus match that I had missed was Southend travelling to Portsmouth last night.

Portsmouth 4 Southend 1

So, a miserable week so far in so many ways. I think Arsenal need a result at Vitoria in the Europa Cup, a match played a day early and because of the clash with Champions League starting at 3:50pm.

Check time.

It is now 3:45pm.

Time to leave you and watch the boys.

November starts

I thought I had all 20 of my teams playing tomorrow but there is doubt about number 20. Let me double check them all.

1) Arsenal v. Wolverhampton.

2) Brentford v. Huddersfield

3) Sunderland v. Southend

4) Bradford v. Exeter

5) Halifax v. Torquay

6) Billericay v. Weymouth

7) Tiverton v. Chesham

8) Thatcham v. Barnstaple

9) Bradford Town v. Exmouth Town

10) Elmore v. Newton Abbot Spurs

11) University of Exeter v. Liverton

And then outside the Football Association Official Pyramid :-

12) Cronies v. Okehampton Argyle

13) Thorverton v. Lympstone

14) Sandford v. Elmore 2nds

15) Westexe Park Rangers v. Upottery 2nds

16) Cranbrook v. Colyton 2nds

17) Broadclyst v. Witheridge 2nds

18) Elmore 3rds v. Chagford 2nds

19) Lympstone 2nds v. Culm United 2nds

20) Westexe Park Rangers ... yes, a fixture has been arranged to fill the gap

20) Bradninch 2nds v. Westexe Park Rangers 2nds

Twenty matches to watch. Does anyone have a time machine?

Sunday, Monday & Tuesday

Sunday was Arsenal day.

The early afternoon saw the women take on Manchester City in the top of the table clash. Arsenal battled out a narrow 1-0 win to catch Manchester City on 12 points. The only club above these two is Chelsea who inflicted the one defeat Arsenal have suffered so far. It should be a good season.

The Arsenal goalscorer was none other than Vivian Miedema who has a strong goalscoring record. She ran onto the pass and hit her shot first time to beat the keeper at her near post.

In the early evening match Arsenal men took on Crystal Palace and went into an early 2-0 lead. This is usually the signal for the lads to sit back and allow the opposition to come at us. That was not the case this time and we made several good chances. The winner in this match was VAR. I know I am biased but Wilfried Zaha saw the leg of Callum Chambers hanging and clearly dived over it. The referee correctly booked him but then the Mike Dean of VAR overturned that decision. There was no advice to "look for yourself". VAR got it wrong. Zaha bought a penalty and it will encourage him to continue diving. Watch out for more dives in future.

Arsenal than had two good goals disallowed. The second one saw Callum Chambers jostled by three players and VAR decided that he was at fault. Does Mike Dean really hate Callum Chambers that much? The VAR referee has anonymity so can reverse any decisions and we have no idea who he is or why he made that decision. The original decisions should have stood as there was no clear and obvious mistake. Arsenal were cheated out of a win by a corrupt VAR official and there should be an investigation as to what Mike Dean was doing in the VAR studio.

Rant over we move onto Monday.

Brentford travelled to Queens Park Rangers and went 1-0 up in the first half. I checked the result just after half time and the Rangers had equalised. I then had an early night expecting the home side to go on to victory but I was delighted when I woke up to find that Brentford has won 3-1.

Tuesday saw Torquay in action against Wrexham. This match ended 1-0 to Torquay.

Two wins at the lower levels still do not make up for what I witnessed on Sunday.

Rain, rain & more rain

Most of my fixtures were postponed today thanks to the precipitation.

Only one of my local league matches was played and nothing happened all the way up to Southern League level. So we start in the National League South.

Weymouth beat Braintree Town 3-0 at home.

Torquay United beat Barrow 4-2 at home.

Exeter beat Plymouth Argyle 4-0 at home. A result that will go down well with the locals.

Southend United cannot have pleased Sol Campbell with a 3-1 home defeat to Ipswich.

Arsenal play tomorrow and Brentford play on Monday.

Arsenal women take on Manchester City before Arsenal take on Crystal Palace.